Video/photographic equipment is usually mounted on suitable supports intended to support such equipment securely and firmly while taking shots.
The supports can, for example, be of the tripod type and are intended to rest on the ground, or other desired supporting surface, to take the shots.
When using the equipment it is necessary to be able to orient said equipment in any way to take the desired shots.
Therefore, an orientation head is usually provided between the equipment and the supports, to which head the video/photographic equipment is coupled and which is in turn mounted on the support to allow the equipment to be oriented so as to take the desired shots.
Such heads are typically provided with one or more articulation joints, for example spherical or cylindrical joints, to vary the position of the equipment supported by the head relative to the support to which it is fixed.
In the case of uneven supporting surfaces, it is necessary to be able to level the supporting surface of the orientation heads of the equipment so as to ensure that the plane of panoramic rotation is parallel to the horizon, i.e. that the pan axis corresponds to the vertical axis.
WO2003/083351 describes a support for photographic equipment, comprising a column intended to be inserted into the hole of a cross-brace and provided at a first longitudinal end thereof with a cup-shaped element intended to slidably accommodate a spherical ball. The cup-shaped element and the spherical ball form a spherical joint allowing the photographic equipment to be oriented.
The cup-shaped element is fixed to the longitudinal end of the column, while the ball is fixed to a coupling plate for coupling a piece of photographic equipment.
The spherical joint is clamped by means of a tie rod that extends within the column along the longitudinal axis thereof and is moveable along said axis in order to lock/release the spherical joint. The tie rod is fixed at a first end thereof to the ball and is provided at its opposite longitudinal end with a threaded shank.
A handle is provided on the column, in the longitudinally opposite position to the spherical joint, which handle can be screwed onto the threaded shank so as to move the tie rod in order to release/lock the spherical joint.
A shortcoming of this locking system is that it makes it awkward for the operator to actuate.
In fact, the locking handle is positioned on the lower part of the support, i.e. in a position that is difficult for an operator to reach.
Another shortcoming of this system is that it is not particularly secure, especially when used with video/photographic equipment and/or heads of appreciable size and weight.